they think he is a brilliant debater. same on romney's side. they talk about how obama is a debate champion. and how he has set the standard. what they are trying to do is lower expectations for their own performance and talk about their own flaws a bit and raise expectations for the other guy hoping that we will judge the debate itself with that in mind. there is another set of expectations. how important are these debates? you have the romney campaign in a position where they need a game-changing moment. then you have the obama campaign saying this is just another moment for us to have another conversation with the american people. that is a downplaying of the expectations. for the debate itself. >> you have been reporting about the separation is taking place for months, most notably when mitt romney was down during the democratic convention. and preparing for the debates in vermont. in your reporting, who is helping mitt romney and who is helping president obama? >> mitt romney is being held by a bunch of people. the senior strategist on his